Collapsible tube roller



Jan. 22, 1952 H, JUNG 2,583,511].

COLLAPSIBLE TUBE ROLLER Filed July 20, 1949 Albert H Jung R By INVENTOATTORNEY Patented Jan. 22, 1952 2,583,511 COLLAPSIBLE TUBE ROLLER AlbertH. Jung, Flushing, N.'Y., assignor to Victor Industries Corporationporation of New York Brooklyn, N. Y., a cor- Application July 20, 1949,Serial No. 105,831

Claims.

1 This invention relates to rollers for flattening and Winding up theemptied end portions of collapsible tubes thereby to eifect the overallshortening of the tube, progressively as its contents are dispensed.

The invention contemplates the provision of a two-part tube roller sodesigned that the parts may be quickly and easily telescoped into eachother and secured together against separation other than deliberate andwith the clipped end portion of a collapsible tube adequately securedtherein, the tube itself serving to lock the roller parts togetheragainst relative rotation.

The invention further contemplates the pro vision of a roller made oftwo complementary and similar hollow cooperating resilient parts adaptedto be assembled with a snap action by merely pressing the parts togetherin a longi tudinal direction, and each having a slot for the passage ofthe flattened and clipped end portion of a collapsible tube whereby theroller may be operated as a unit to wind or roll up the tube as thelatter is emptied, each roller part being closed at its outer end by awinding head or disc which also prevents accidental detachment of theroller from the tube by movement in a direction transversely of thetube.

The invention further contemplates the provision of separable fasteningmeans in the form of a head on one roller part and a groove in the otherroller part to receive the head for firmly but removably holding theroller parts together against longitudinal separation or displacement.

The invention further contemplates the provision of a simple tubewinding rollerof pleasing appearance adapted to be inexpensively made.of suitable slightly resilient synthetic plastic resin or the likematerial and separable into two simi'" lar though complementary partswhen removed from the completely emptied tube, the roller parts beingeasily secured at opposite edges of a full or partly full tube and toeach other.

The various objects of the invention will be clear from the descriptionwhich follows and from the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view taken through the slots thereof, ofthe roller parts as they appear separated from each other, the clippedend portion of the tube to which the roller parts are attached beingshown by dash-dot lines.

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view partly broken away, of the roller asit appears assembled and attached to the flattened and clipped end portion of a full or fresh tube.

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of the grooved roller part and of apartly rolled up collapsible tube holding said roller part, the other orbeaded roller part having been removed to expose the grooved rollerpart.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. l, ofthe grooved roller part.

Fig. 5 is a similar view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. l of the beadedroller part.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view of. the partlyassembled roller parts and tube taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 1 butshowing the beaded roller part inserted partway into the grooved rollerpart and expanding the latter.

As has been indicated, in the practical embodiment of the inventionillustrated, the tube roller is made of two similar though complementaryslotted and flanged parts as Ill and H each preferably molded in onepiece of a suitable synthetic thermosetting or thermoplastic resinhaving some resilience. Each of the parts is flanged or headed at oneend as 13 to provide a suitable fingeroperable winding member adapted toassume a pleasing form and to be provided with surface ornamentation ifdesired on its outer surface M. A tubular member I 5 having alongitudinal opening i2 therethrough projects axially from the head I3of each roller part and is provided with a longitudinal slot i6extending preferably throughout the length thereof for the reception ofa flattened part l8 above the usual flattened and clipped part I! of thetube end as shown in Figs. 1-3 and 6, whereby the clipped end I! may bearranged in the longitudinal opening l2 of the tubular members [5.

While the division of the roller into two parts permits it to be quicklyand easily attached to the tube It in such a manner that after assemblyof the parts the roller remains securely in place and cannotbecomedetached or lost, the parts are so shaped that they, mayadequately and securely assembled to each other and to the tube by asingle movement toward each other and transversely of the collapsibletube, and yet may be detached from each other and from. the tube by asimple movement in the opposite direction or away from each other whenthe tube is empty or before if desired. For these purposes, the innerend portions of the members l5 of the respective parts in and i! difiersomewhat, one being in the form of a female or grooved fastener elementand the other in the form of a male or stud fastener element. As bestseen in Fig. 1, a relatively wide annular circumferentially arrangedgroove Zii is recessed intothe inner wall '01" the roller part NJ inlongitudinal spaced rethe same diameters and lengths. The male fastenerelement comprises a bead 23 formed at the extremity of said open endportion 25, the outer diameter of the bead being substantially equal tothe diameter of the bottom wall of the groove 20, but the width of thebead being less than the width of said groove. The leading edge of hebead 23 is rounded as best seen in Fig. 1 to produce the desired camaction to permit the parts llland II to be easily telescoped into eachother as indicated in Fig, 6. The trailing edge 26 of the bead forms ashoulder thereon engaging the shoulder 22 when the parts are telescopedtogether.

Since the respective lengths and diameters of the walls 25 and 2| aresubstantially the same, the shoulder 24 at the end of the-surface 25will abut against the complementar end edge IQ of the part Ill when theparts are assembled with the bead 23 in the groove 20 as shown in Fig.2. The outer surface of the part II at 25 will also contact the innersurface 2| and the shoulder 26 of the bead 23 willalso be substantiallyin contact with the shoulder 22 of the part ltl. Consequently, in saidassembled position, the parts cannot easily become separated since thebead shoulder 26 cannot easily pass the cooperating holding shoulder 22.However, since the parts In and l l are sufiiciently resilient and areslotted as well, and the difference in diameters of the bead 23 and thewall 2! is slight, a firm pull on the .membersi3 away from each othercauses the bead. to expand or to stretch the open end portion of thepart L the slot 15 aiding to permit such expansion, whereby the bead maybe pulled out of the-part It and the parts separated for use on a freshor full tube.

To attach the separated roller parts to the clipped or lower end I! ofthe full tube, the usual clip at said end I1 is inserted sidewise. thatis, by a movement in a direction transversely of the tube into theopening 02 of the part Hi and the corresponding central opening in thepart I l, wliilethe flattened part of the collapsible tube above theclip enters the slots as shown in Fig. 1. The bead Z3 is then forcedinto the open end of the part I U as shown in Fig. 6, thereby expandingsaid end and the slot of said roller part sufficiently to permit thebead to be forced along the wall 2| until itsnaps into the groove 20 andthe; edge 19 engages the shoulder 25 thereby preventing furthertelescoping movement of the-parts. On release of the pressure putthereon by the head, the tubular portion of the part I U contracts toits initial or normal diameter thereby to hold the roller parts securelytogether. The tube l8, extending as it does, through the slots of bothparts Hi and H, serves as a lock to prevent relative rotation of saidparts. Passage of the clipped end ll of said tube upwardly through theslots I5 is prevented because the slots are made of lesser width thanthethicknessof the clipped end. It will'therefore be seen that when theroller parts are, a

4 sembled with the tube as above described, they cannot becomeaccidentally detached from each other or from the tube, but can readilybe removed by a pull to withdraw the bead from its groove ashereinbefore explained.

It will be understood that the roller may be made in various sizes tofit various standard tubes and in various shapes, that it is adapted tocarry surface ornamentation, that it may readily be operated by thefingers of the user after enough of the contents of the tube have beendispensed to flatten the end portion thereof remote from the cap, thatthe flanges or heads l3 provide effective finger grips for suchoperation upon the capped tube as to wind up the flattened part of thetube compactly as shown in Fig. 3, that the roller may be quickly andeasily attached and assembled by unskilled persons and as easilydisassembled for reattachment to another tube, and that I have provideda device adapted to perform its intended purposes effectively.

It will also be seen that each of the roller parts may be readily andinexpensively molded of synthetic plastic in one operation and in onepiece, the dimensions of the groove and of thecooperating bead and theresiliency 0f the slotted parts beingsuch as to permit the parts to beremoved from the molds by. slight force exerted thereon to expand thegrooved part or slightly to compress the beaded part. i

While I have shown and described a certain specific embodiment of theinvention, it will be understood that various obvious changes may bemade therein without departing from the spirit of the invention definedin the appended claims.

1-. A two-part tube roller comprising a pair of telescoping moldedmembers each having a head and a longitudinally slotted tube projectingfrom the head, and cooperating separable fastening means on the memberscomprising an enlarged annular bead providing an integral ridge on theouter wall of one of the members removably entering a correspondingannular groove providing a shouldered recess in the inner wall of theother member, the diameter of that part of the inner wall outwardly ofthe recess being less than the greatest diameter of the enlarged beadwhereby the bead expands the inner wall during the passage of the beadlongitudinally into the recess.

2. A collapsible tube roller comprising a first slotted tube closed atone end and open at the other and having a circumferential groove in theinner wall thereof and a second slotted tube closed at one end and openat the other and having an outstanding circumferential head on the outerwall thereof adjacent the open end and of the'same outer diameter asthat of the ameter of the open end portion' of the'first tube beyond thegroove.

4. The tube roller of claim 2, each of the tubeshaving an'outstandinghead at the closed end" thereof, the outer wall'of the second tube beyond the beadbeing of'substantially-thesame 5 diameter as the inner wallof the first tube beyond and adjacent to the groove.

5. The tube roller of claim 2, an outstanding head at the closed end ofeach of the tubes. there being a longitudinal slot in each of the tubesextending from the open end to the head thereof.

6. The tube roller of claim 2, the bead being rounded at its leadingedge, the shoulder of the bead engaging the shoulder of the groove whenthe bead is in the groove, each of the tubes having a longitudinal slottherein extending from the open end thereof up to the closed endthereof.

7. A collapsible tube roller comprising a resilient one piece rollertube closed at one end and having a longitudinal slot through theremainder thereof and open at the other end thereof, there being anannular groove arranged circumferentially around and recessed into theinner wall of the tube, and a second roller tube closed at one end andhaving a longitudinal slot through the remainder thereof and open at theother end thereof and having an annular projection thereon fitting intoand entering and cooperating with the groove to maintain the tubesagainst separation when the tubes are forcibly telescoped together, thegreatest normal diameter of the bead being greater than the normal innerdiameter of the open end part of the first roller tube, therebyrequiring expansion of the first tube and the widening of the slotthereof to permit the bead to pass into the first tube up to the groove.

8. The collapsible tube roller of claim 7, the slots of the roller tubesbeing locked in alignment with each other when in use by a collapsibletube having a flattened portion thereof arranged in the slots and havingan end'portlon arranged in the interior of the tubes.

9. The collapsible tube roller of claim 7, each of the tubes having anoutstanding winding head at the closed end thereof.

10. In a tube roller, a longitudinally slotted tubular member having acircumferential ridge on, its outer surface terminating in an annularshoulder, and a longitudinally slotted sleeve having a circumferentialrecess in its inner surface adapted to receive the ridge when the memberis forced into the sleeve to a position wherein the ridge registers withthe recess, the greatest diameter of the ridge being greater than theinner diameter of the sleeve to expand the sleeve as the member and thesleeve are telescoped together, the shoulder of the member engaging theshoulder of the sleeve to detachably lock the member and the sleevetogether.

ALBERT H. JUNG.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,038,057 Peters Apr. 21, 19362,492,594 Renouf Dec. 27, 1949 2,500,274 Brown Mar. 14, 1950

